A little Science Experiment

I am a home cook. Not a professional. Not a scientist. What I am, however, is fearless in the kitchen. There’s nothing I love more than tackling a new and exotic ingredient, or even technique. There are definitely divided schools of thought on molecular gastronomy but personally, I love the whimsy and sheer creativeness that the molecular aspect brings to the plate. This summer I was fortunate to dine at Bo Innovation in Hong Kong; which was nothing short of a culinary adventure. The man is truly a genius with flavors, textures, aromas and presentation. One dish, in particular got me inspired and it was a spherical version of dumpling soup.



























The bright pink stripe was a sliver of pickled ginger that perfectly complimented the complex flavors of the warm soup as it burst free from it’s spherical confines in my mouth!  Stellar, amazing and somewhat mysterious.

Now, I had dabbled in molecular gastronomy before, making balsamic caviar and a faux egg from yogurt and mango but the spheres had vexed me, so I set out to learn a bit more about the process.  Basic spherification is what I used when making the ‘caviar’ and it’s a very straightforward and simple process but it does have a couple of drawbacks. he first is that the spheres continue to gel as they sit, so you need to serve them immediately in order to get that oh-so-satisfying burst of liquid. The second is that it doesn’t work with liquids having a high calcium content or alcohol. That’s where reverse spherification comes into play, and offers much more versatility with ingredients and holding the completed spheres.

I worked with this over the course of several days until I finally got the result I was looking for below is my version of reverse spherification with a liquid parmesan filling and thyme mushroom broth:



























I learned several things of great value during the process.

Number 1: DO use distilled water. It makes all the difference since you are creating a chemical reaction and calcium in your tap water can markedly change the ratios you are trying to control.

Number 2: DO mix the sodium alginate solution with an immersion blender, starting with about half of your water, then adding the rest when it is thoroughly combined.

Number 3: DO let the Sodium alginate rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours to allow the air bubbles to disperse. This step is critical!

Number 4: I added small amounts of Xanthum gum my liquid to be sphered, just until it held it’s shape when placed in the Sodium alginate bath. Since I was doing reverse spherification, I was able to reheat the spheres in warm oil and the interiors completely liquified again, despite being a little thicker when I created the spheres.

Number 5: Keep trying! if you don’t get it right the first time, adjust something. I did this with small amounts of my parmesan-mascarpone liquid so that I could keep adjusting without wasting large quantities.

The result was amazing! The liquid interior was perfect, when reheated in 150 degree oil, the spheres floated to the top when they were the right temperature and regained a perfectly spherical shape. I will, however, serve this next time with something other than broth, since you lose a lot of the textural surprise that way.  A good place for information on doing some of these dishes can be found here: http://www.molecularrecipes.com/spherification/ you can also purchase kits but I have found that a lot of the ingredients (read chemicals) are available in my local health food store. Yes, they are all natural compounds, just combined in ways that allow for surprising results!